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The purpose of this thread is to discuss, critique and idolize the Voice Actor cast of Spice and Wolf. Please remember that the discussion should center on their performances as professional voice actors and not on the show content (which can be discussed in the various Episode threads). Please remember this simple rule when critiquing a VA's performance or reading another forum member's critique:

- Don't take it personally.
In other words, youíre free to disagree with another personís opinion, but donít flame them if they offer a well written and well thought out analysis that differs from your own opinion. Keep it civil.

- Voice Actors are humans.
Yes, itís true. Theyíre human. Therefore, donít just indiscriminately rip them and their work apart as if theyíre inorganic objects. You donít have to praise them non-stop, but be thoughtful in your criticism.

This thread might duplicate some discussion in the Episode threads, but it can also serve to demystify various VA roles, disseminate VA information (VA Bios, VA photos, etc) and provide cast information of various types as well as discussion about performances.

I have to say, I adore Ami as Horo. She does a wonderful job portraying the cheeky playful, yet insightful and intelligent god she is. Every episode just makes me appreciate her all the more.

In the first episode, Jun's voice didn't sit terribly well with me, just seemed too young for Lawrence, however, it grew on me. By episode two he'd sort of fit in to the character or something. No problems at all in episode two or three, now he's just Lawrence to me, no hint of Lulu there that bothered me in episode one.

These two voices bring life to two excellent characters, and are a part of what makes this series so excellent. ^^

I agree that this could become a landmark role for Amisuke. Despite the specific dialect, it has a lot of aspects: the young girl, the clever wolf, the trickster, the friend, the ancient of days, both wise and nostalgic. She does all of those aspects well. The hardest thing may be to make them all seem part of the same character. Great job so far.

In prowling around 2channel, the only real criticism I've seen is that her voice isn't sexy enough. I agree that it isn't overly sexy, but that may not be necessary.

As for Fukuyama Jun, I didn't hear Lerouche in ep1, but I think I hear him now. That doesn't bother me, but I am certainly not as struck by his voice here as by hers. I don't find it to young or too old, however. According to the novel, Lawrence is supposed to be a 25-year-old trader who has been on the road for seven years. That sounds about right.

"sexy enough" ....... ooookay, I'm not sure I want to know what they're calling sexier .
I like the way she manages "mature playful" ... just because you're 600 yrs old doesn't mean you've forgotten how to be deft and playful.

Having not been a particular fan of the series Lerouche is from -- this hasn't been a problem for me... but then its the unusual VA in Japan who actually does more than a few voices. <shrug> when Peter O'Toole does the critic in Ratatouille... I don't sit there and have brain farts because I keep hearing Lawrence "O'rabia". whatever...
Now... does he sound like a late 20-something trader who knows a lot about his living? Not so much the first episode, but getting better.

I have liked Koshimizu Ami in every role I've heard her in. It wasn't until her role in M;Y as Nanaka that she became my favorite female VA. Now as Horo, she has propelled herself even further into my heart than she did with Nanaka. This, along with her other most recent role as Takuma in H20, has firmly led me to the belief that there is no role she can't take on. She is just too great.

Fukuyama Jun is one of my favorites as well. His most revered role, is of course that magnificent bastard Lelouche. So much so, that all I heard were complaints that Lawrence sounds too much like him. I for one heard nothing but an appropriately matured voice coming out of Lawrence's mouth. I think Jun is doing a fantastic job myself.

1. (slang) A member of furry fandom.
2. An animal character with human characteristics created by members of the furry fandom, usually loosely based on existing cartoon, mythological, or fantasy characters.

Welllllll, actually the fan hobby of "furry" is a lot more expansive than that. Horo technically qualifies since she's an animal-goddess-girl of many aspects, but the series really isn't "furry" as such. "furry" is one of those words that people in and out of the fandom like to argue about --- like who's more religious or something

Welllllll, actually the fan hobby of "furry" is a lot more expansive than that. Horo technically qualifies since she's an animal-goddess-girl of many aspects, but the series really isn't "furry" as such. "furry" is one of those words that people in and out of the fandom like to argue about --- like who's more religious or something

I think there's a pretty solid line between kemonomimi and furry. Horo is a kemonomimi, 100%. No fur, just ears and tail in her usual form. The fact she can take on a wolf form has nothing to do with it. A number of mimis can take on purely bestial forms, but that doesn't make them furries. The defining characteristic of furries is the... fur.

But that's just IMO. Will always be argument about it, unfortunately. But I'm a pretty big kemonomimi fan (have quite a collection, and run a kemonomimi potd site) so I'll always have a pretty solid stance on the matter. ^^;

Not this shit again. Jesus people, let's get this straight right fuckin' now. Horo's not furry. Liru's here to teach you all a lesson, because it concerns her too. The "n" on "not" is cut off, but you get what she's trying to say.

Personally, I couldn't care less about the definitions.. but I've seen arguments that any animal-humanoid combination can be labeled "furry" all the way back to the Egyptian/Greek demigods and the like. They're just superhero/fantasy stories for the fireside days involving cat-people, satyrs, and mermaids. That argument just dumps kemonomimi as a subset of "furry". And actually "fur" isn't the entire defining characteristic, but again I don't care enough to dig up the references.

Liru's picture graph is fairly spot on .... though some folks argue the 10% is close enough (its like those nasty little "one drop of a race" makes you impure garbage thoughts).

Heh, its kind of like Shinto ... which categorizes all other religions as a subset of Shinto to some degree... your kami, that kami, this kami... hey, they're all kami.

That's my last comment on any 'furry' aspect because frankly the word gets used too often by idiots who want an easy label to bash something with.

I'm not sure I can add much to the discussion, since I mostly am repeating everyone else. But here goes anyway.

Koshimizu has always held a special place in my estimation ever since Nadja.

Lots of people have gotten used to Fukuyama, but I don't think I ever will. His voice sounds extremely unnatural, like a boy trying to pretend he can grow a beard. He's just not masculine enough in my estimation. I had the same problem back in Code Geass when he was just a sad imitation of Yagami Light.

...So? I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. If anything, airing in the same season made it worse. I remember watching one then the other and thinking Light was so much better at the Machiavelli stuff.

Imitation implies being a copy which you really can't say when they aired in the same season, I think the term poor mans Yagami Light is what you're after. Me personally I don't agree with that, I agree with the Seiyu Awards though how you can miss out on Best Rookie and yet win Best Main Character is perplexing.

I remember watching one then the other and thinking Light was so much better at the Machiavelli stuff.

That would be the script. Blaming Fukuyama Jun for not being "Machiavellian" enough is like blaming Sunrise for the character designs of Code Geass which were done by CLAMP, it's not his fault even if you think Light>Lelouch. The VAs don't write the story.

As far as voice acting, I think the Seiyuu Awards settle that matter. Fukuyama pwned Miyano Mamoru for Best Actor in a Leading Role.